Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a largely seasonal decline in single-family business in October, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of mortgage-backed securities data. The two GSEs guaranteed $99.33 billion of single-family MBS during October, an 8.3 percent decline from the previous month. Most of the slippage was in purchase-money mortgages, which fell 14.5 percent from September, following typical seasonal patterns. The refi market held up a lot better. October volume was down 1.6 percent from September, while still ranking as the second-highest monthly total so far this year. That pushed the refi business to 60.2 percent of GSE volume, excluding modified loans.

The FHA can be more flexible in insuring condominiums without increasing risk to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute. The FHA proposed a rule in September that would give it more flexibility in formulating its condo rules. Specifically, FHA proposed to establish a permissible, minimum owner-occupancy range of 25 to 75 percent, while keeping the option of setting a minimum threshold within that range as ...

Mortgage lenders are beginning to harness the power of big data to improve the increasingly expensive and often inefficient loan origination process, according to experts speaking on a panel at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention. Loan officer productivity has declined overall and varies greatly, according to Garth Graham, senior partner at the Stratmor Group. The top 40 percent of LOs generate 78 percent of mortgage originations, according to ...

Bank mortgage repurchase activity rose again in the third quarter of 2016, although most of the increase is tied to Bank of America clearing up old buyback issues. Commercial banks and savings institutions reported $884.4 million in single-family mortgage repurchases and indemnifications during the third quarter. That was up 10.0 percent from the previous period and marked the third consecutive quarterly increase in repurchase activity ... [Includes one data chart]

When deciding which lender to work for, high-performing loan originators put an emphasis on companies that have the infrastructure to help originate mortgages, according to a survey of LOs by Floify. The company, which provides a communication portal for lenders, borrowers and others involved in the origination process, recently surveyed LOs on recruitment and retention issues. The findings focused on LOs with at least $21.0 million in annual origination volume ...

A recent white paper from VantageScore Solutions claiming that millions of potential mortgage borrowers have been restricted from receiving loans due to “conventional” credit scoring models has prompted a strong response from officials at Fair Isaac. Joanne Gaskin, a senior director in Fair Isaac’s scores and analytics group, published a “truth squad” post on a FICO-related website addressing VantageScore’s claims. “Scoring sparse and old data may give more ...

Just over one fifth – 21 percent – of homebuyers this year regret their choice of mortgage lender, according to a new survey by J.D. Power. For first-time homebuyers, that number jumps to 27 percent. “Overall satisfaction scores have increased year over year, but a high percentage of home buyers are remorseful about their mortgage lender selection,” J.D. Power said. Of those homebuyers who regret their decision, the firm found two distinct scenarios have unfolded ...

Commercial banks and savings institutions recently wrapped up their best quarter in over a year in terms of mortgage-banking income, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data. The industry racked up $5.18 billion in mortgage-banking income during the third quarter, a huge 44.6 percent increase over the three-month period ending in June. It was the best quarter in mortgage-banking income since the April-June cycle in 2015, when ... [Includes one data chart]

New derivative rules requiring daily posting of two-way variation margin on affected derivatives could create uncertainties for structured finance transactions, warned Fitch Ratings in a recent analysis. U.S. banking regulators and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have adopted the uncleared swap margin rules for covered swap entities. Specifically, registered swap dealers and all end users of derivative contracts must comply with margin collection, posting, segregation, and documentation requirements by March 1, 2017. New swaps executed after the 2017 effective date would...

Fairholme Funds officials this week continued to press their case for restoring shareholder rights for private investors in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, expressing hope that the incoming Trump administration will be friendlier to their cause. In Fairholme Funds Inc. v. United States, et al, the plaintiffs argue that the net worth sweep imposed by the Treasury Department and Federal Housing Finance Agency was illegal and that the two government-sponsored enterprises were not in a “death spiral” at the time of the bailout as the government claims. During a conference call this week, Fairholme CEO Bruce Berkowitz said...